A well recognized method of attracting and catching fish involves the provision of a source of illumination which is associated with the lure body, as is evident by virtue of the teachings and structure contained in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,437,256; 2,536,408; 2,458,611 and 2,431,420.
In fact illuminated lures have proven so successful in attracting and catching fish, that they have been banned from use in many fishing tournaments, and have been declared illegal for use in some states.
In those states where the use of illuminated lures is permissable, the commercially available prior art constructions have not found widespread consumer acceptance, despite their proven effectiveness in catching fish, due to the following factors: short battery life due to continuous power usage required by the simple on/off switch or actuating mechanism found on virtually all of the prior art constructions; constant power drain requirements imposed on the battery regardless of whether or not lure is in or out of the water; the tendency of the user to forget that the battery circuit is operational, while in transit from one location to another; and, also the failure of many users, particularly on very bright sunny days, to detect or notice the illumination, due to the intense ambient light conditions, and to subsequently return the illuminated lure into long term storage in their tackle boxes, with that actions attendent consequences only being evident the next time the angler wishes to use the lure.
As a result of the observed deficiencies in the prior art constructions; it became apparent that the only way for illuminated lures to gain widespread commercial success would be, to eliminate as much as possible the non-useful illumination periods, and also devise safeguards against the inadvertent or neglectful actuation of the battery circuitry during the storage of the lure in a tackle box or the like.
The end result of the research devoted to arriving at a solution to the above enumerated problems is embodied on the subject matter that forms the basis of the present invention.